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Only three days remain in session
With only three working days remaining in the 2008 legislative session,
senators are advancing bills at a rapid pace before the session’s last day,
scheduled for April 17. More than 70 bills await action on Final Reading.
Following a four-day weekend, senators will return to business on Tuesday, April
15.
For a complete list of bills that NHA is following, check the bill summary on our
Web site.
Bills of interest to NHA members advance
The following "bills of interest" to NHA members
advanced April 7-10. Behind each bill number and description are the NHA's position and
the bill's current status.
LB 245 — Change provisions relating to fluoridation of drinking water
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
LB 308 — Adopt the Automated Medication System Act
NHA position: Support Status: Final Reading
LB 830 — Adopt the Prescription Drug Cost Savings Act
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
LB 902 — Change provisions related to controlled substances schedules
and inventory
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
LB 911 — Provide for REAL ID operator's licenses and state
identification cards
NHA position: Support Status: Select File
LB 1048 — Provide for issuance of birth certificates for stillbirths
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
LB 1082 — Amend the Workers' Compensation Act to redefine injury and
personal injuries
NHA position: Monitor Status: Select File
LB 1108 — Change licensure requirements for mental health practitioners
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
Bill to expand injury definitions stalls
Lawmakers declined to advance a bill April 10 that would change the Nebraska
Workers’ Compensation Act. Currently, under the act, mental injuries are
compensable only when tied to a compensable physical injury.
LB1082, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Abbie Cornett, would make mental injuries
unaccompanied by a physical injury compensable for first responders in limited
circumstances. The bill would exclude recovery for mental injuries resulting
from normal employer and employee relations, including personnel and
disciplinary actions.
Cornett said the exclusion of mental injuries unaccompanied by a physical
injury limits the workers’ compensation system in helping traumatized workers.
Thirty states allow compensation for stand-alone mental injury, she said.
Read more.
— Nebraska Unicameral Update Online, April 10, 2008.
Senators chastise doctors who mark up patients’ bills
Senators who have been working with doctors, in particular dermatologists and
pathologists, on a bill that would prohibit markups on lab test charges spoke
just long enough Wednesday morning to admonish the doctors. Lincoln Sen. Tony
Fulton made the opening remarks on the bill (LB 1104) that would disallow the
markups on charges for anatomic lab tests, such as skin biopsies and Pap smears.
He said testimony at a hearing on the bill confirmed the practice was
happening in Nebraska and that the American Medical Association code of ethics
was very specific that marking up a lab test that another doctor performed
shouldn’t happen.
Fulton and others, including the Nebraska Medical Association, have been
trying for more than a year to come to some sort of compromise with the doctors.
Negotiations have gone nowhere.
Read the full article.
— Lincoln Journal Star, April 9, 2008.
Committee will investigate Beatrice center
The Legislature’s Executive Board selected seven senators Thursday to serve
on a special committee that will investigate the Beatrice State Developmental
Center (BSDC). Sixteen senators had asked to be on the committee.
The seven are Greg Adams of York, Abbie Cornett of Bellevue, Tim Gay of
Papillion, John Harms of Scottsbluff, Steve Lathrop of Omaha, Arnie Stuthman of
Platte Center and Norm Wallman of Cortland.
The committee members, selected by secret ballot, are expected to meet next
week to elect a chairman before starting their work. The resolution creating the
committee, called the Developmental Disabilities Special Investigative
Committee, said the group will look at care and staffing issues at BSDC,
capacity and funding for community programs that serve people with developmental
disabilities, and staffing problems at state-run institutions.
An amendment offered by Fullerton Sen. Annette Dubas, adopted 32-0, would
require Health and Human Services (HHS) to report any proposed changes to the
state’s Medicaid program to the governor, the Legislature and the Medicaid
Reform Council by Dec. 1.
Dubas said lawmakers need more time before the start of legislative sessions
to respond to proposed changes.
Following adoption of a technical amendment, LB 928 was advanced to Final
Reading by voice vote.
— Lincoln Journal Star, April 10, 2008.
Omnibus health policy bill amended
Lawmakers gave second-round approval April 9 to a bill that would make
changes to several areas of health and human services in Nebraska.
LB 928, introduced by Kearney Sen. Joel Johnson, would repeal the Hepatitis C
Education and Prevention Act, which terminated Dec. 31, 2007.
The bill was amended on general file to include provisions from the following
bills:
- LB 738, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Tony Fulton, which would make
technical changes to brain injury registry notification and reporting
requirements;
- LB 796, introduced by Johnson, which would create a new licensure
category of limited computed tomography radiographer under the Radiation
Control Act;
- LB 906, introduced by Louisville Sen. Dave Pankonin, which would change
provisions relating to certification and inspection fees for laboratories
regulated by the state Department of Health and Human Services; and
- LB 1173, introduced by Ewing Sen. Cap Dierks, which would allow zoo
animal health care to be performed by credentialed health care professionals
under the immediate supervision of a zoo veterinarian.
The bill was amended extensively on select file.
Sen. Johnson offered an amendment that would exempt recreation facilities,
centers or programs operated by political or government subdivisions from
licensure requirements under the Child Care Licensing Act. The amendment also
would stipulate that signing a specific consent form for HIV testing would not
be required if a person signs a general consent form for medical tests or
procedures. The person must be informed that an HIV test may be performed under
general consent and that they may refuse the test. The amendment was adopted
27-0.
An amendment offered by Sen. Lavon Heidemann of Elk Creek would alter the
funding mechanism for the state’s newly established Stem Cell Research Cash
Fund. Heidemann said funding will not be available until 2009 unless the
transfer mechanism is changed. The amendment was adopted 26-0.
Bayard Sen. Philip Erdman offered an amendment, adopted 26-1, that would add
HHS to the list of parties who must receive notice upon the death of a person
who was 55 or older or who resided in a medical institution. Erdman said the
change would make it easier to comply with federal law requiring the state to
attempt to recover funds from the estates of Medicaid recipients. He said the
change would not remove safeguards that exempt residences and certain other
assets.
A final Johnson amendment, adopted 26-0, would:
- change provisions relating to fluoroscopy use;
- remove the chairperson of the Behavioral Health Oversight Commission
from the Children’s Behavioral Health Task Force;
- require HHS to perform a comprehensive analysis of Nebraska’s options
under federal law for providing medical assistance to employed persons with
disabilities;
- require federally recognized Indian tribes to have self-determination
agreements in place with Indian Health Services to cover all costs for
enrolled tribal members before a certificate of need waiver could be granted
for a Nebraska facility; and
- require HHS to report any proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid
program to the governor, the Legislature and the Medicaid Reform Council by
Dec. 15.
Omaha Sen. John Synowiecki expressed concern about the Behavioral Health
Oversight Commission. Synowiecki said the commission is tied directly to a
specific piece of reform legislation, the mission of which has not been
completed. The commission has been instrumental in Nebraska’s move from
institutional to community-based mental health services, he said. There are
approximately 35 people yet to be transitioned, Synowiecki said. “These will be
the toughest ones to place,” he said. “We’re not done with the reform.”
Norfolk Sen. Mike Flood offered an amendment that would reconfigure the
Behavioral Health Oversight Commission. The amendment, adopted 34-1, would
establish the commission as of July 1 with 12 governor-appointed members
representing consumers, advocates, providers, administrators, regional centers
and cities.
— Nebraska Unicameral Update Online, April 10, 2008.
Drinking water fluoridation bill amended, advanced
Lawmakers amended and advanced a measure April 9 that would change provisions
relating to the fluoridation of Nebraska drinking water. LB 245, introduced by
Kearney Sen. Joel Johnson, would require the fluoridation of the human drinking
water supply of any city or village with a population of 1,000 people or more.
Under the bill, cities or villages that do not currently fluoridate their water
may prohibit fluoridation through adoption of a voter initiative.
As amended, the bill would:
- clarify that fluoridation would not be required if a city or village has
sufficient amounts of naturally occurring fluoride in its water supply;
- allow the governing body of a city or village to place an ordinance
prohibiting fluoridation on the ballot for a public vote; and
- postpone the bill's effective date and opt-out provisions until June 1,
2010.
Sen. Johnson said the bill would provide Nebraska communities the opportunity
to reconsider decisions made 35 years ago. Fluoridation was mandated in 1973,
Johnson said, and cities and villages were allowed to opt out of that mandate,
but had no option for reconsideration.
Read more.
— Nebraska Unicameral Update Online, April 10, 2008.
Prescription drug bill advanced
A bill intended to lower the cost of Medicaid prescription drugs in Nebraska
received second-round approval April 9.
Sponsored by Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, LB 830 would establish a preferred
drug list for the state’s Medicaid program. As amended, the bill would require
the state Department of Health and Human Services to create and maintain the
preferred drug list and to establish a pharmaceutical and therapeutics committee
to advise the department on all matters relating to the list. All therapeutic
classes of prescription drugs except antidepressants, antipsychotics and
anticonvulsants would be considered for the preferred drug list.
To ensure Nebraska obtains the lowest available price for Medicaid drugs, the
bill would require HHS to:
- enter into a multi-state purchasing pool;
- negotiate directly with manufacturers or labelers; and
- contract with pharmacies for negotiated discounts or rebates.
Read more.
— Nebraska Unicameral Update Online, April 10, 2008.
For more information about health-related legislative bills or resolutions, contact: Bruce Rieker, vice president, advocacy at (402) 742-8146 or brieker@nhanet.org.
NHA Rotunda Review is published by the Nebraska Hospital Association, 3255 Salt
Creek Circle, Lincoln, NE 68504. Phone (402) 742-8140, Fax (402) 742-8191. Visit our Web site at
http://www.nhanet.org. Christy Rasmussen, editor, at
402/742-8151, or email, crasmussen@nhanet.org.
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